


stir fry

by stebeee



Category: HIStory3 - 圈套 | HIStory3: Trapped
Genre: Alternate Universe - Chefs, Alternate Universe - Restaurant, And Into His Heart, Chef!TY, Cooking, Fluff, Humor, Late Night Supermarket Trips, M/M, Oblivious Tang Yi, Romance, Shao Fei Moves Into Tang Yi's House, very quickly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:42:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24112255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stebeee/pseuds/stebeee
Summary: Tang Yi’s carefully steaming a marble goby fish to perfection when the doors to the large kitchen slam open.“Boss,” Jack calls. “He’s here again.”Or Shao Fei keeps busting drug criminals at Chef Tang Yi’s popular restaurant, and Tang Yi, for the love of god, doesn’t quite know why he keeps letting Shao Fei do it.
Relationships: Meng Shaofei/Tang Yi
Comments: 37
Kudos: 383





	stir fry

**Author's Note:**

> No, I don’t know where the hell I was going with this except that I miss the last extravagant meal I had which was… during Chinese New Year in January and way before COVID was a thing and I thought… it’s as good as any time to write that chef!TY AU, and this is a short love story told in several broken tables and chairs, late night supermarket run-ins and more <3 Yes this fic has been sitting half-written in my folder for FOUR MONTHS.
> 
> It's a bit of crack in here, so don't take this too seriously XD
> 
> *Tang Yi's restaurant is called 唐家菜 (tang jia cai) which means The Tang's Home Cooked Food in literal translation

Tang Yi is carefully steaming a marble goby fish to perfection when the doors to the large kitchen slam open. Everyone around him turns and looks up, but Tang Yi is waiting for the right moment to pick the fish out of the wok and drizzle a ladle full of delicious and sweet soya sauce over the beautiful white meat before him.

“Boss,” Jack calls. “He’s here again.”

Tang Yi straightens, and ensuring that the fish is sitting perfectly in the wok with a last look, he half turns towards the doors.

Almost perfectly on time, a loud crash and some screams sound from the outside.

In comparison, the dead silence in the kitchen save for some bubbling and boiling of soup seems much louder than the chaos happening right outside those doors.

Shaking his head, Tang Yi sets his apron aside and pulls off his chef’s hat.

“Give all our customers a complimentary drink and dessert of their choice,” Tang Yi orders everyone, then approaching the door that Jack is leaning casually against. “And pull one of the new tables from storage and replace the one that Captain Meng just broke.”

“How many times is this now?” whispers one of the sous chefs.

“I’ve been keeping count, I think it’s… the 13th time?” another whispers back.

Jack gives him an exasperated but amused look as he walks past, and Tang Yi ignores him as he heads out. By now, he doesn’t even need to think about where the mess is anymore. On autopilot almost, his feet brings him to the table that arguably has the best view in the entire restaurant, featuring a panoramic view of Taipei’s skyline before them.

When Tang Yi opened _Tang Jia Cai_ two years ago, even his adoptive father, Tang Guo Dong, was surprise. His sister too, Hong Ye, was surprised, never expecting Tang Yi to do anything other than eventually take over Tang Guo Dong’s shipping empire. 

Turns out that Hong Ye is a better corporate shark than Tang Yi will ever be, and Tang Yi is definitely a hell lot better at cooking than Hong Ye is.

It was the only way he knew how to show his gratitude for _Lao_ Tang, who’d picked him up from the streets when he was younger and then taken him home to keep forever. _Lao_ Tang, who taught him the meaning of family, who taught him honour and integrity, who celebrated all his birthdays for him, sat at bedside when he was sick, attended every parents’ meeting session in school without fail and more importantly…

The _Lao_ Tang who taught him everything he knows about cooking, and a little more.

So Tang Yi opened _Tang Jia Cai,_ a two-storey restaurant sitting near the top of one of the highest skyscrapers in Xinyi District, serving fancy homecooked-style dishes, with a tiny investment from _Lao_ Tang. Three months after launching, Tang Yi was getting so swamped with the long lines for his restaurant that he had to hire Jack, an ex-soldier who had a way about him in the kitchen, especially with the knives.

Tang Yi tries not to think too much about it.

Today, _Tang Jia Cai_ is house to over 80 employees, and their reservation list is always filled three months in advance.

He’s immensely proud of _Tang Jia Cai_ , and everything has been smooth-sailing the past two years. 

Well, smooth-sailing mostly, until three months ago.

“You know,” Tang Yi sighs as he walks up to the broken table, “If you’re always going to ruin your meal when you visit, why do I even bother actually cooking for you?”

A man dressed in a black jacket, matching black tailored pants and a white shirt is currently pinning another man to a now-broken table with his hand twisted very painfully behind him. At the sound of Tang Yi’s voice, the man looks up, a little adorably with those wide eyes.

“Tang Yi!” he beams.

This is Meng Shao Fei, Captain of Investigations Unit Team 3 of the country’s very well-respected police force.

“What’s this for this time?” Tang Yi continues, nodding tersely towards the man, whose face is pressed very tightly against the table, or what’s become of it, anyway.

“Threatening a police officer _and_ illegally gathering his own gang and a rival one in the banquet hall upstairs,” the police captain explains, then releases pressure on the man slightly as Jun Wei and Yu Qi, Shao Fei’s trusted partners in the team, appear to take him away.

Tang Yi has to lament for just a split second that he actually knows their names.

“Sorry,” Shao Fei continues, looking just as sheepish as the _thirteen_ previous times this happened. “Look, you’ve got the hottest restaurant in town and also the best private rooms and booths on the second floor, plus criminals seem to love your tasty food. They all like to gather here for some reason, okay? I swear I’m not doing this on purpose.”

“How would you know,” Tang Yi comments dryly, looking over the shattered plates, “You’ve never finished a meal here yourself.”

“I usually get a few spoonfuls in,” says Shao Fei pitifully, staring at the toppled bowl of fish maw’s soup.

Then, “Sorry again about this, Tang Yi. Send us the invoice for damages?”

Tang Yi looks to the side, and one of the waiters near him nods, having taken note of this. 

He has no idea who Shao Fei contacts to get a reservation in his restaurant always, because the man always manages to accomplish the impossible — get a table on short notice. Tang Yi also does not want to think about why he lets Shao Fei continually come into his restaurant and break his things, because it’s bad for business. 

Not only is Shao Fei busting criminals (not that he wants any criminals dining at his restaurant, but sometimes he thinks about just how much money those old geezers were rolling in), he’s scaring some of Tang Yi’s regular patrons. At least none of them seem to have been scared away for good, but Tang Yi appreciates calm and peace here. It’s already chaotic enough sometimes in the kitchen.

Worst of all was actually realizing that the old, rich grandpa that has frequented his establishment for the past two years was actually running the largest drug smuggling ring throughout Asia. Even Jack looked stunned when that happened, and Jack is an ex-soldier who’s stared down explosives right in his face.

Tang Yi had liked the old man, damn it.

“I can’t imagine how extensive your department’s budget is to keep compensating for damages like this, Captain Meng,” Tang Yi comments nonetheless. 

“Desperate times, desperate measures,” Shao Fei grins at him, and Tang Yi fights the urge to just throw Shao Fei out. “Okay, I gotta go. Sorry about this again! I’ll have the fish maw soup again the next time-“

“There better not be a next time,” glares Tang Yi.

He’s said that twelve times already, but Meng Shao Fei just-

He _just_ keeps coming back.

“Boss,” Xiao Na, the waitress standing closest to him asks, “Mr. He at table 53 is asking for you.”

Tang Yi shoots one last glance at the troublemaker disappearing up the stairs, then pretends not to see Jack waving at another officer standing at the top of the stairs, who blushes when he sees Jack.

His staff swoop in quickly to begin and finish cleanup.

What bothers him perhaps is that Meng Shao Fei has been in his restaurant 13 times, but has never once finished a dish he cooked. 

===

By a stroke of terrible fate and luck, Tang Yi meets Shao Fei by chance a week later in the supermarket at three in the morning, the both of them staring at each other in a mixture of surprise and confusion in the sauce aisle.

“Tang Yi!” Shao Fei recovers first, greeting him with a grin in his joggers and jersey, as if they’re friends. “What are you doing here?”

“Unless you own the supermarket, I don’t see why I can’t be here,” Tang Yi says coolly with an eyebrow raised, a little annoyed already from insomnia and now having his peace shattered in his place of refuge. “What is Captain Meng doing so late here?”

Shao Fei smiles then, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. He looks a little exhausted, and now that Tang Yi is looking carefully, he seems… a little skinnier than last week when he saw him. 

He looks like someone desperately trying to chase away imaginary shadows in the depths of his mind, and Tang Yi can’t say he doesn’t understand the feeling himself.

Tang Yi blames what he says next on sleep deprivation and a momentary bout of insanity.

“… I’m testing a new dish for the restaurant and need a taster, “ he offers.

At that, the dullness in Shao Fei’s eyes clear up a little as he glances towards Tang Yi. Perhaps he should ask why Tang Yi is testing out a dish in the wee hours of the morning because a normal, regular person would leave the cooking for probably at least four hours later, but Shao Fei smiles, the curve of his lips more genuine then the previous one.

“I don’t ever say no to free food,” he says, coming over. “What’re you making?”

“I haven’t really decided yet, I usually just pick out ingredients and see which direction I want to go for… you’re not allergic to anything, are you?” Tang Yi eyes him from the corner of his eye.

“No,” Shao Fei answers, peeking into the basket of carrots, turnips, assorted vegetables, some prawns, mussels, minced meat.

“Good, because if you are, I’m still cooking the same thing and you get to watch me eat instead,” Tang Yi exhales, tossing vinegar into the basket.

Tang Yi’s house isn’t far from the supermarket, although his neighbourhood is considered one of the more expensive ones. Shao Fei lives 15 minutes away from the supermarket as well, but in the opposite direction from Tang Yi's and the apartments there are way smaller, but he has no complaints. It’s what he can afford with his salary, but Tang Yi is staying in a lovely condo penthouse suite.  Shao Fei isn’t proud to say that he almost drools, with how wide his mouth is opened as he takes in the surroundings.

“It comes with a private lift,” he says, looking around the two floor apartment in awe.

The floor-to-ceiling windows are just ridiculous, and Shao Fei immediately runs over to look into the distance, the beautiful lights of other buildings and street lamps twinkling in the dark. Mesmerized, he stands there for a long moment. He lives only on the third floor and this is a view that one can only dream of, he supposes.

He sits at the dining table and watches Tang Yi putter about the kitchen. Soon, the constant rhythms of chopping and the stove crackling fill the space, and at… four in the morning, the peculiarity of the situation hasn’t exactly kicked in. 

“Why’re you awake?” asks Tang Yi suddenly.

At the question, the images that Shao Fei was trying all night to suppress surface behind his eyes again, and he swallows. His gut reaction is to make up some dumb excuse and pass it off as that, certain that Tang Yi wouldn’t press, but honestly? It’s late, and he hasn’t been able to sleep for two days, so what the hell?

“… I can’t say much because the details are confidential, but… our team was working with the serial crimes division on this, and well. We couldn’t save all the captured victims. The sight was… it was gruesome, to say in the least. And I keep thinking that if we were faster…”

Not only was their suspect smuggling large cargoes of cocaine into the country, but it was found that the shipment contained underaged girls as well in two other shipping containers as their suspect dealt on the side with human trafficking as well. It was one of their largest cases in two years, and not only was Shao Fei’s team on it, even Interpol stepped in as command for the three teams working on the case. By the time they got to the port, checked every container from the shipment, the girls were dead.

Clean shots to the head. Two containers full of fresh blood, limbs strewn over others.

Girls who would never see their families again. 

He’s drawn out of his memories as a loud ‘thunk’ sounds in front of him. Shao Fei looks down, only to see a simple bowl of porridge, with fresh prawns, carrots and mushrooms adding colour to the gooey sea of white. It’s not exactly what Shao Fei had in mind when Tang Yi said ‘new recipe’ but, it smells heavenly. And warm, _settling._

It is delicious, and Shao Fei is pleased to find that this is the first dish he’s been able to stomach in two days.

“You did your best,” Tang Yi says, settling in the seat opposite his with a smaller bowl. “That has to be enough, sometimes.”

Shao Fei swallows, a lump forming in his throat at Tang Yi’s words. It’s not like the man said anything special, but simply put like this, his nose burns against his wishes. Sniffling, Shao Fei shoves half of the porridge down his throat despite how hot it is.

“And why are _you_ awake,” Shao Fei asks, wiping his nose with the back of his nose.

“This isn’t a support group, and we aren’t exchanging life stories,” Tang Yi says, “Just eat your porridge.”

It’s late when they’re done with their meal, or early, depending on how one sees it. Tang Yi tosses Shao Fei a pillow and blanket, and the man kips out on his couch for the next few hours.

When Tang Yi leaves for work the next morning, Shao Fei is still dead to the world. Shaking his head, he writes a note for the police captain, reminding him to just close the door properly behind him when he leaves.

===

Tang Yi doesn’t see Shao Fei for another two days after that, but when he hears the shattering of glass outside in his restaurant on the third day, he wonders if it’s possible to regret letting Shao Fei into his home that morning.

_Temporary moment of insanity and weakness,_ he reminds himself.

“This is getting a little ridiculous,” sighs Ah De, the chief pastry chef. “Wei Ning, did you record that?”

His assistant nods, heading to the door leading to the staff’s locker room, and on the wall next to it, she draws another strike on the whiteboard.

“I didn’t know we were feeding so many criminals,” mumbles Jack.

“We’re feeding _you,”_ Ah De returns under his breath, but Jack ignores the man, turning to Tang Yi.

Tang Yi shakes his head, and this time, he sends Jack to deal with the whole mess.

===

The next time it happens, nothing really breaks, but the criminal makes a break for the stairs and Shao Fei gives chase all the way to the lobby, where he leaps off the top of the stairs and jumps on the suspect.

_Minimal damages,_ Tang Yi thinks with satisfaction. This is the most action the restaurant has seen in a while, and some of the cooks and waitresses left their stations to see Shao Fei handcuff the guy with one knee pressed painfully into the man’s back.

Tang Yi notes that Shao Fei’s hands are bandaged up, and the man looks a little pale.

“Ah, send us the bill again, Tang Yi, although I was careful not to break anything today,” Shao Fei smiles when the chef approaches. “Aren’t you going to reward me?”

Tang Yi’s eyes wordlessly fall to the bandages on both of the captain’s hands.

“Ah this? Some accident at a wet market with three perps who were armed with knives,” Shao Fei sees what Tang Yi is looking at. “It’s healing!”

“… my house, supper,” Tang Yi offers for a second time, and he’s not sure who’s more surprised, himself or Shao Fei.

“… uh, are you… sure?” Shao Fei asks hesitantly, effortlessly restraining the struggling man under his knee. “I… have to bring this person back to the station and have his statement, it’ll be quite late-“

“We close at 10, and by the time the restaurant is cleaned and everything is kept, it’ll be closer to midnight,” Tang Yi points out. "You were the one who wanted a reward."

Shao Fei thinks about it for a second, before he nods, “Okay! Do you want me to buy-“

“Just turn up,” Tang Yi sighs, thinking twice about this already, but he’s already offered. 

Hours later, Shao Fei is allowed upstairs by the building concierge and Tang Yi already has a pot of soup going on the stove. In his hands is a six-pack of canned coke.

“… you look like you haven’t slept properly in a few days,” Shao Fei says, seeing the dark eye circles under Tang Yi’s eyes. 

They don’t talk much, and honestly Tang Yi doesn’t understand why he made the offer to Shao Fei earlier, but the man is here, and he doesn’t hate his presence. Tang Yi can’t say that he has many friends. A lot of close colleagues, sure, but actual friends? He’s lucky he has Andy and Jin Tang, a bartender and doctor from his college days, and then he has Hong Ye and _Lao_ Tang. 

Jack is… Tang Yi doesn’t know how to place Jack. Would he want to go hiking or fishing or to the batting cages with the man? No thanks. But if asked if Tang Yi trusts him, then it’s a huge yes.

Shao Fei sleeps on the couch again, this time given disposable toiletries and Tang Yi’s spare clothes so he can take a shower and get ready for bed.

When Tang Yi leaves the next morning, he places the first-aid kit softly on the coffee table so Shao Fei can see it the moment he wakes up before leaving for _Tang Jia Cai_.

===

Somehow, throughout the next few months, they exchange numbers and Shao Fei starts turning up less at Tang Jia Cai, and more at Tang Yi’s apartment. Even on Tang Yi’s off days sometimes, and that’s when Shao Fei turns up for dinner.

Spicy mapo tofu and coke is an absolute travesty, and Tang Yi threatens to not let Shao Fei into his house again if he dares to make him try the combination. Still, Tang Yi starts picking up coke bottles when he’s at the supermarket after that.

When Shao Fei makes it three whole months without turning up at _Tang Jia Cai_ , Tang Yi asks, “You haven’t been to the restaurant lately.”

“I think criminals have finally gotten word that I’ve been making an unusual number of arrests at your restaurant, if they still turn up after so many months, I’d be worried for the drug criminal industry,” Shao Fei scoffs, then coughs as the chilli spice goes down his windpipe.

Tang Yi frowns, but picks up a piece of tissue and dabs at Shao Fei’s mouth, “How old are you? Don’t talk while you’re eating.”

“You’re the one who asked me a question!”

===

When Shao Fei turns up at his door the next time, it’s after two days of complete radio silence from the man. Just as Tang Yi decides that he’ll head to the police station the next morning and check on Shao Fei, he sees the man he’s looking for seated on the floor outside of his door.

He’s as pale as the white wall he’s leaning against. The kind that makes Tang Yi think he should be in the hospital and not _here._

“Sorry,” Shao Fei apologizes as Tang Yi helps him in, “I… I’ve been in the hospital.”

“You should have stayed there,” Tang Yi chides, feeling angry all of a sudden. “What the fuck did you come here for?”

Shao Fei is quiet at that. This time, Tang Yi brings him upstairs to his bedroom. After the man lies down on his sheets, Tang Yi begins to catalogue all of his injuries. It seems that he’s fine except for the stab wound in his abdomen, which isn’t bleeding, thankfully.

“I was discharged,” Shao Fei finally said, not that Tang Yi believes him, “I just… I was hungry, and all I could think of was coming here.”

“You could have called me,” Tang Yi says, “Didn’t you know that I would worry?”

“Phone was out of battery, Zhao Zi didn’t help me to charge it,” Shao Fei grins weakly. “Why, did you leave me a lot of text messages and voicemails?”

Tang Yi freezes.

“… you did?”

“Give me Zhao Zi’s number,” Tang Yi instructs, changing the topic. “Lie down and don’t move, I’ll make you supper. How did you even get up here?”

“The guard knows me now, and anyway, even if it wasn’t the usual guard, I honestly would have just flashed my police badge.”

Zhao Zi is more than a little stunned to hear Tang Yi’s voice, but is smart enough to give Tang Yi the information that he needs. As he expected, Shao Fei was discharged against medical advice after he insisted that there was no need for him to continue staying in the hospital. His bandage needs to be changed daily, and no fried, heaty food for the next week at least. 

Tang Yi ends up feeding Shao Fei some clear chicken broth, and once the man’s stomach is full, he’s easily lulled back into much-needed sleep for recovery. As he decides between sleeping on the couch as he should, or just joining Shao Fei in bed because it’s his bed, Tang Yi chooses the latter.

He’s too tired to think about it.

On his part, Shao Fei doesn’t mention the both of them sharing a bed when he wakes that morning.

Shao Fei stays in his bed and house for the next one week, with Tang Yi sending both lunch and dinner to him by delivery on the days he’s working at the restaurant, and cooking for Shao Fei personally on his rest day.

Tang Yi hasn’t dated properly in years, and it was a long, long time ago when he last had someone waiting for him at home, waiting for him to come back. When he opens the door to see Shao Fei’s grin and wave from where he’s seated on the couch, it makes his heart skip a beat.

At the end of the week, just before the day Shao Fei has to go back to work, Tang Yi slips the spare key card to his door in the man’s pockets.

(He doesn’t know how Jack finds out that he has Zhao Zi’s number the day after Shao Fei turns up at his door, but after a short stand-off, Tang Yi sends the contact to Jack.)

===

A month later, Tang Yi finds a drawer stuffed full with Shao Fei’s things, and has to sit on the floor for a bit.

What the hell is he doing?

Shao Fei sleeps right next to him in bed, and comes home to _him_ more often than not. No it’s not just the past month, although them sharing a bed is new. How long has this been going on? Since the first time they met coincidentally in the supermarket, it’s been… five months, going on six, almost.

They’ve been friends all this while, and more than that.

Tang Yi sends one of the restaurant’s delivery boys back here or to the police station these days depending on where Shao Fei is, sometimes both lunch and dinner, but mostly dinner. Shao Fei’s shoes are in the shoe cabinet at the door, he has two jackets here and a full drawer of clothes in the house. There’s some strange watermelon-scented shampoo in his bathroom, and Shao Fei’s shaving kit at the sink.

There’s a cup in the cabinet that Tang Yi thinks of as ‘Shao Fei’s cup’ and Shao Fei has also been buying groceries for the house when Tang Yi forgets, although he wishes Shao Fei would learn to start picking food items that make sense because just buying a bag full of assorted vegetables only means Tang Yi has to make three vegetable dishes for two days straight and by the time they get to the third day the other half of the vegetables are already yellowing in the fridge.

“Hnn? Tang Yi, why’re you sitting on the floor?” Shao Fei asks, suddenly standing right next to him in his stupor.

His hair is wet, and-

The last nail on the coffin is honestly the bathrobe Shao Fei is wearing. Tang Yi didn’t think much of it when he passed by his usual department store two weeks ago and saw a matching gray bathrobe that was in the same design as the navy blue bathrobe he has, and bought it for Shao Fei, just like that.

“… we should probably start dating,” Tang Yi comments, “To make this all less weird.”

Shao Fei frowns, confused. “Start- start… I thought we were-“

Tang Yi reaches up and drags Shao Fei down to join him on the floor, reaching for the back of his neck when the man falls right next to him, and pulling him in for a kiss.

===

The red snapper gleams beautifully under the lights in the kitchen, and Tang Yi busies himself with tasting the sauce. The timing on this dish has to be absolutely perfect. Chinese New Year is in six weeks, and he’s deciding whether _Tang Jia Cai_ ’s newest dish should make it into the Chinese New Year reunion dinner menu, when he’s interrupted by a scream outside.

Everyone in the kitchen stills.

“… hmm, this feels like kind of a deja vu, doesn’t it?” asks Ah De. “Wei Ning, is the board still up?”

Wei Ning looks up, and frowns, “It’s not Captain Meng’s tally anymore. I think that tally is for… Jack- _ge_ and Officer Zhao! We’re counting how many times Jack- _ge_ sneaks off to feed his boyfriend-“

“He hasn’t been here in a while,” Xiao Sha, one of their sous chef, considers, “Captain Meng, that is.”

“Accounting’s been happy recently,” agrees Ah Ming, one of their older waiters, “No more having to leave some expenses aside to cover damages.”

Tang Yi ignores the lot of them, taking off his apron and pushing past the doors to go outside.

Crossing his arms at the scene before him where Shao Fei has a man pinned to the wall, he asks, “What’s this for this time, Captain Meng? Another drug bust? And here I thought _Tang Jia Cai_ was finally criminal-free due to your efforts.”

Shao Fei turns, “Ah, no. He was feeling up that lady over there against her wishes, rather rudely, if I may add.” Then to the perp in front of him, “The lady said no, respect that, won’t you?”

Tang Yi looks at the embarrassed but also mortified lady in question, and turns to the woman, “Are you okay? Would you like us to call the police?”

The woman shakes her head, and so Shao Fei lets the man in his hold go. The building’s security has been notified of the situation, so they’re standing at the exit, ready to escort the man out of the premises. After hearing that Shao Fei is a police officer, the man is very eager to leave.

She says, “Thank you. I’m sorry-“

“Not at all, we’re sorry you had to go through that,” Tang Yi reassures, then looking up to see Man Man, “We’ll get you another table and please continue your meal here if you’d like to, it’s on the house today.”

Man Man leads the lady upstairs to a more private booth away from prying eyes and as they go, Tang Yi turns to Shao Fei, gesturing for him to follow.

Stopping in the corridor right next to the kitchen, Tang Yi asks, “What’re you doing here? You haven’t visited in a while. We’re almost closing.”

“Ah, I was in the neighbourhood and wanted to wait for you to go home,” Shao Fei answers cheekily, “But Tang Yi, you’ve really got a lot of troublemakers here.”

It’s still an hour to closing, and then another hour of cleaning up or more after. Tang Yi sighs softly, before looking over his shoulder and seeing his terrible employees who’re trying not to look so obvious as they eavesdrop on their conversation.

“Xiao Sha, can you pack up two main courses and a dessert for me?”

“Okay, give me a sec!”

“Tang Yi-“

“You go home first,” Tang Yi says, his voice soft, just for Shao Fei's ears only. “It’s still two hours to closing, and you’ve been running ragged on your latest case. Besides, the kitchen is closing in another five minutes.”

Xiao Sha is quick, and she runs out of the kitchen with a paper bag, which she passes to Shao Fei.

Reluctantly, Shao Fei nods, “Okay, I’ll go then.”

With a sigh, he moves past Tang Yi as if the man has wronged him, and at the very last moment, Tang Yi gives in. Snagging Shao Fei’s wrist with a quick hand, he turns the man back to him and kisses him softly on the lips. Shao Fei’s eyes go wide.

He ignores the many gasps behind them, and Tang Yi almost laughs because he’s sure that he heard the sound of a pot dropping.

Shao Fei is smiling when he pulls away.

“Alright,” he says, more cheerfully than before, “Come home soon.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come find me on Tumblr!
> 
> And yesss I know I've been sitting on Lionheart Ch 5 for a bit but it's coming!!! Definitely after this new week because oof I am swamped with work :(

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [stir fry [Podfic]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28906797) by [ReformedTsundere](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReformedTsundere/pseuds/ReformedTsundere)




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